Avison, Margaret (1918–)

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Avison, Margaret (1918–)

Canadian poet. Born April 23, 1918, in Galt, Ontario, Canada; grew up in Regina and Calgary; attended universities of Indiana and Chicago; University of Toronto, 1936–40, MA, 1963–65.

Taught at Scarborough College, University of Toronto (1967–68); was writer-in-residence at University of Western Ontario; was secretary at Mustard Seed Mission (1978–86); poetry collections include Winter Sun (1960), The Dumbfounding (1966), Sunblue (1978), Collected Poems (1990), and Concrete and Wild Carrot (2003); also wrote History of Ontario (1951), as well as book reviews for Canadian Forum, Poetry, Contemporary Verse and Origin; delivered 1993 Pascal Lectures at Waterloo University, published as A Kind of Perseverance. Awarded Governor General's Award, three honorary doctorates, and Order of Canada; won Griffin Poetry Prize for Concrete and Wild Carrot (2003).